Struggling with math? You may not be in your "right" mind

Monday, 13 April 2009 20:15

Does your child suffer from one or more of the following?

Still counting on fingers Not learning the times tables Poor money skills Unable to regroup in subtraction Forgets what was learned yesterday Difficulty in grasping mathematical concepts Not understanding the abstract language of math Has a diagnosed learning disability or ADD/ADHD

Your child is not alone. Over 30% of students struggle to learn math concepts.

Research shows that students favor either the left or the right side of their brain for learning. Left-brain learners have an easier time with mathematics because of their logical, analytical, auditory, and detail-oriented way of learning. These learners easily grasp and follow mathematical rules and naturally think sequentially. Left-brain students thrive in classrooms that involve listening, discussion, and note taking. These students enjoy gathering and organizing information for future use.

Right-brain students are visual, tactile learners. These students have a strong visual memory and struggle to bring a pictorial meaning to the teacher's lessons. Right-brainers would rather have a demonstration and a hands-on activity than an explanation. Fortunately, they have the ability to multi-task, are spontaneous, like new ideas, are active, and prefer to draw and create. Because their processing is quite random this child has difficulty organizing and holding information for long-term use in their brain.

Unfortunately, our schools primarily teach mathematics in a logical format. The explanation and steps of problem solving gets lost in the right-brain child's world of picture identification; therefore causing slow comprehension and auditory processing problems.

Today's student is growing up in a world of over stimulation, high action movies, video games, cable TV, computers, cell phones, action sports, and an excess of extracurricular activities. Though our environment is changing and becoming more and more visual, our schools are slow to adapt and continue to operate in an uninspired environment of words. Lessons continue to emphasize order, drill, lectures, and repetition. Today's schools are dominated by left-brain teachers using left-brain methods. Teachers have little understanding or training of teaching to the right-brain learner. Standardized test preparation has replaced the creativity of the classroom.

Mathematics will continue to be a struggle for right-brain learners because schools do little to meet their needs. These students can effectively learn if we supplement visual methods along with traditional teaching methods. In order to develop a love of mathematics, a child's interest must be captured and a creative understanding developed.

Serving the Buda, Kyle, Austin, and San Marcos areas.